Can you guys tell me whats wrong with this mix

[brentnowlan]

it a band I recorded, but didnt have too much time to mix it but im not happy with it and need some coaching. heres the link http://www.myspace.com/burdenofone
just let me know what is bad with the mix and let me know whats good. thanks in advance, brent

[enr1x]

Hi brent! i have problems with my flash player, could you post a direct link to this song? For example, it can be in rapidshare or something similar. I promise i'll try to do my best to suggest you improvements on mixing. Thanks!

[brentnowlan]

http://rapidshare.com/files/4279510/...gress.mp3.html
sorry about that

[enr1x]

Thanks for sharing this song!
Well, it's the second time i listen to this track and in my opinion:
- There's a noise in somewhere, check your tracks individually to find it and try to remove it.
- Snare is incredibly low, i would raise it's level and then add a good short reverb.
- Have you touched the EQs of the overheads? i would make them brigher
- Add more stereo info on this track. For example, guitars could be slightly moved to a channel, and then the bass in the other side. Then the overheads each one on its channel would help.
- The voice doesn't sound very close. I would raise its level and then modify the low-mid and mid-high frequencies to sound more intelligible. A short reverb can also help to make it find its space.
- For me i wouldn't touch the guitars...
- ... but the bass sounds quite bad. What i would do (as bassist, and amateur sound engineer) is to add more mid frequencies, and definitely more high frequencies, to make it more bright.

Well, check the mix especially from minute 3 on, because the sound is too bloated, maybe because the guitars take up too much level...

Hope it helps and keep up the good work.

Enric

PS. I remember a technique which usually helps that is to listen a similar artist, for example, i would listen to Silverchair's Tomorrow, and analyze its sound, then try to apply it to your mix.

[brentnowlan]

Originally Posted by enr1x

T\
- Add more stereo info on this track. For example, guitars could be slightly moved to a channel, and then the bass in the other side. Then the overheads each one on its channel would help.
\

Im not catching what you mean when you say channels...could you maybe explain it.
thanks brent

[djui5]

No offense if this is your band, but the performance is quite lacking. Sounds like a new band to me.

Also, the mix is really mono, and the toms or something come flying out of the sides sometimes. It sounds really weird..

[enr1x]

By channels we mean, for example, the right channel and the left one, that is, channel is the bus through which the signal is routed with the help (if not the function) of the pan knob. By modifying the pan (aka. Panorama) you can route the signal to, for example, only the right channel, or the right speaker when the mixer or decoder or whatever is connected to the said speaker. Try that. The tendence, is, however, to avoid 'extreme' panoramas like the ones found in some Jimi Hendrix or the Beatles tracks where the 'whole' drums are in one channel and the guitar or voice in the other one. That is, in my opinion, really annnoying and hard for listening, at least, when using headphones. I hope my knowledge makes you understand more on this issue. Good luck with your mix!,

Enric (Barcelona. Spain)

[brentnowlan]

thanks for your response enr1x. Im interested why you would pan the bass to the opposite channel than the guitar, dont you want to have the kick, and bass guitar in center???

[enr1x]

Note that i said 'for example'. The decision is yours. I would pan slightly the bass in the other side as the guitar just to emulate more the sound you would see live. Am i wrong that, if you are in a concert, you can see the vocals mainly in the center, the bass in one side and the guitar in the other one, etc.? well, you can recreate that configuration, but as i have already said, it's your decision and influences that will say. Have you followed my advice to listen to a similar record of a similar band? That could really help to find the sound. Obviously your band is not Silverchair, nor you have the equipment of these guys, or the acoustics or whatever. Your band is simply different. Better or worse will decide the public. Have fun with your mix!

[brentnowlan]

I like your idea of panning things as if you were listening at a concert, never thought about it...and as for listening to the silverchair song, I havent done it yet, but forsure will. Thanks for the good comments.
brent

[GregP]

Preface: I'm just a home recordist dude, not a resident forum pro.

- I agree that the mix is fairly mono. You can "play it safe" with your soundstage and not have people criticize you for riskier panning decisions, but on the other hand you have the potential to open the song up a lot more.

- I agree that bass can be panned a bit. It's general wisdom for bass and kick to be somewhere near the middle, but that doesn't mean you need to keep them dead centre.

- I like the dynamic nature of the mix, and like most people I've observed here, I LOATHE over-compression. But in this case, there's room for more of it. Almost every element would benefit from a bit of taming (if not compression, then using automation to keep some ebbs and flows in line), but for me it was particularly the drums and vocals. By taming the drum peaks a bit, you can probably bring them down a bit in the mix overall.

- I have a poor monitoring solution, but even then I was noticing that you seem to have a lot of bass energy. I agree with the recommendation to add some higher frequencies back in.

- Critiquing the guitars' place in the mix is problematic for me-- as a guitarist, I'm lacking sufficient objectivity. To me, while I'm a fan of mids, these are sounding a bit boxy, meaning that they're lacking some lows (possibly) and some high-end sparkle. Now, I'm a firm believer that limiting instruments even to unexpected frequency ranges can work. In this case, the tone might actually be right for the job. But too few of the OTHER instruments are filling in the high-frequency space, so as a guitarist I'm craving it from the guitars. In general, I find the fingerpicked parts not rich enough in harmonic content, and the distorted rhythm guitars to be a bit "boxy" as described above.

- The vox could stand to be double-tracked. You'd be surprised how even a singing numpty like me can achieve good results. Unlike the pros, I simply do not ever get a near-mirrored second rendition. But creative treatment of plosives, sibilance, and hard transients on the doubled part help it blend into the original part and add some extra girth where it counts... it's the attack sounds (hard consonants) and "ess" sounds (sibilance) that are easiest to identify in doubled parts, and in my case I'm aggressive with those parts because they're intentionally "behind" the original in terms of level and clarity. Get rid of some of those tell-tale signs and you can still get cool results. If you're not up for, or don't have the resources to track a second vocal, I think a look at ways to add depth (diff. reverb?) could bear fruit.

---

Second reminder: I'm just a home studio numpty. And I say all of the above constructively. The bottom line is that the song is cool. It was recorded at a decent enough level of skill/instinct, and the message of the song is effectively conveyed. If there's one piece of advice I could give, it's this: sometimes it's better to move to the next song than follow the advice of people like me. Yeah, there's room for improvement on the mix, but unless this is directly related to your going forward (ie. you need it as a demo, or it will be on a saleable CD at your gigs) with your business/publicity, it's more fun and more productive to move to the next song and apply your new knowledge to a whole new project. Sure, take some of this advice (and temper ALL of it, even that of the professionals, with your own preferences/instincts) and polish your mix a bit, but don't get too hung up on it. It's a good song and you did a good job. :D

Greg

[brentnowlan]

Thanks greg for the positive input...I liked all of your input and agree thats its good to move on to the next song and apply the new knowledge to the next project as much as I want to improve this one. Since getting a good mix starts with the tracking.
brent